Appeals
California Court of Appeal Orders County to Produce To FMG Client 42,000 Withheld E-mails
Sacramento, CA. Dean Getz brought a California public records act case in the County of El Dorado in which he sought production of 42,000 e-mails between the County and a land developer. Getz was represented…
Sacramento, CA. Dean Getz brought a California public records act case in the County of El Dorado in which he sought production of 42,000 e-mails between the County and a land developer. Getz was represented by Freeman Mathis & Gary’s Sacramento partner, Greg Fayard. The trial court denied Getz’s request as “overbroad and unduly burdensome.” Getz petitioned to California’s Third Appellate District. On November 17, 2021, after oral argument, the Court of Appeal granted Getz’s petition, ruling that since the 42,000 were already identified and indexed and the County failed to show any of the e-mails were exempt from disclosure or contained privileged information, all the e-mails and any attachments must be produced. The Court opined: “An agency cannot resist disclosure based on the burden stemming from actions needed to assuage an abstract fear of improvident disclosure, a fear that could be avoided by simply setting privileged documents apart. . . . California has declared, in terms as clear as the English language permits, that government business is the people’s business whether conducted in proceedings by deliberative bodies (Gov. Code, § 54950 et seq.) or discussed in records of any form, and must be accessible to the public, though access can be regulated to reduce the administrative burden imposed on government agencies and in rare instances can be denied to prevent the disclosure of records exempt from disclosure.”
The Court further ruled that the County shall pay Getz’s costs and reasonable attorney fees.
More Successes
More Successes
NLRB Affirms Dismissal of Failure to Bargain Complaint
Dallas FMG attorneys Robert Chadwick and Robin Foret obtained a favorable appellate ruling from the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) on behalf of a transportation company. After an evidentiary hearing, an administrative law judge below…
Henry’s Louisiana Grill, Inc. v. Allied Insurance Company of America, 35 F.4th 1318 (11th Cir. 2022). In a case of first impression, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of an insured’s claim for…
Siasim Columbia, LLC, v. Scottsdale Insurance Company, Case No. 21-12918 (11th Cir., June 29, 2022). FMG Attorney Philip Savrin obtained an appellate victory in an insurance coverage case that arose from property damage to a…
Silvia Cotriss v. City of Roswell, et al., Case No. 19-12747 (11th Cir., June 29, 2022). FMG Attorney Michael Hill obtained affirmance of a summary judgment award on behalf of the City of Roswell and…
Richard Durham v. Aerial Funding, LLC, Case No. 21-13847 (11th Cir., July 1, 2022). In appeal handled by Atlanta Partners Michael Freed and Brian Goldberg, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a plaintiff’s wrongful…
FMG Appellate Team Obtains Victory for Nonprofit Corporation in California Court of Appeals
Jason A Bezis v. Livermore Heritage Guild, Case No. A160921 (Cal. Ct. App., June 30, 2020). FMG’s San Francisco appellate team obtained an affirmance from the California Court of Appeals of a trial court’s denial…
Friendship Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Elevation Chophouse v. Hasty, (Ga. Ct. App.). The Georgia Court of Appeals recently granted a petition for interlocutory review filed by Atlanta Partners Wayne Melnick, Michael Freed, and Wes Jackson, of…
Eleventh Circuit Finds for Insurer in COVID-19 Case of First Impression in Georgia
Phil Savrin and Shawn Bingham successfully represented Allied Insurance Company of America (a Nationwide entity) in resisting a claim by a restaurant (Henry’s Louisiana Grill) seeking coverage for business income lost after it suspended its…
Paul Piantino and Christopher Donnelly obtained a reversal and remand resulting from their Appeal of a Final Judgment entered by a Bergen County Trial Court. The case arose out of an underlying action in the…
Casey Stansbury and Team Secures Appellate Win in the Kentucky Court of Appeals
On November 12, 2021, Kentucky’s Court of Appeals issued a decision affirming the grant of summary judgment in favor of FMG client Carey Baldwin. In Leonard Crabtree v. Carey Baldwin, et al., the plaintiff claimed…
Dana Maine Prevails in Georgia Court of Appeals
Dana Maine obtained a very favorable result in the Georgia Court of Appeals on behalf of our client, a Community Manager for a condominium association. The decision affirmed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment…
Christopher Lynch and Edward Storck obtained summary judgment in a case involving suit by plaintiff against the client dealership and the tortfeasor who was loaned a motor vehicle by the client dealership while the tortfeasor’s…